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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Blind Speed Dating #37 (MG)

Title:
THE LOST FIGUREHEAD

Genre:
MG Adventure

Word
Count: 56,000

Query:

Finn
Rackham is tired of being told that he's bound to end up just like his
parents--behind bars. Sure, his temper is a little toasty, but that
doesn't make him a criminal. But when he accidentally falls in with a
band of pirates, even he starts to think it won't be long before he finds
himself in juvie--or worse.

After
twelve years in the slums of Brooklyn, Finn figures he knows how to deal with
pirates. Just stir up that temper, let fly a few fists, and bingo!
He'll be rid of them before you can say "Yo-ho-ho!" But
the men and women who sail under Captain Kelsey Dash are not the
sword-swinging, pistol-wielding, treasure-hunting rapscallions he expects.
They're time travelers, and they just commandeered a ferry in New York
Harbor.

At
least, it looks like a ferry.

But
when the ferry changes into a Viking longship, Finn quickly learns that the
boat he boarded in Battery Park is an enchanted vessel known as the Vanessa
Atalanta. With the ability to plunge into the past and float upon the
future, while changing her form into any ship ever imagined, she's the most
magnificent craft to sail the seas. There's just one problem: she
can't be controlled, which means her crew lives in constant fear that she'll
transform into the Titanic, materialize in the midst of Pearl Harbor, or
cruise straight into waters patrolled by the wicked pirate J.R. Daggerwing.

The
only way to regain control of the Vanessa Atalanta is to find her lost
figurehead, the key to her magic. If they don't, Finn can never return to
New York--or worse, he and his new friends will be captured by Daggerwing, who
will do whatever it takes to claim the enchanted ship for himself.

First
250

Trust
Finn Rackham to make a mess of things.

Not
that he regretted it. Not that it was even his fault, really. What
was he supposed to do? Bobby Leland, the pompous brat, had opened that
big ugly mouth of his, and Finn had reacted accordingly: with a few well-aimed
punches, straight to the jaw. Sure showed him who was "good-for-nothing,"
all right.

"--ungrateful
twerp. We take you in and this is how you thank us.
Despicable!"

From
the driver's side, Mr. Leland was still yelling, but Finn wasn't listening.
Instead he stared out the window. There wasn't much to see: it was
late, and this part of Brooklyn was dark.

"I
should have known. That's what you get when good, law-abiding citizens
try to clean up the streets. No wonder the jails are overcrowded.
There's no helping you people, is there?"

All
right, so maybe he was listening. Finn balled his hands into
fists. Shut up, shut up, shut up.

The
car jerked to a stop in front of a little brick building. Mr. Leland
leapt out, moving awfully fast for a man his size, and threw open the passenger
door. Finn tried to duck under his arm, but Mr. Leland caught him by the
ear, only to drag him up the path to St. Magnus's Home for Children.